‘No sleep for ICE’: Protesters descend on Long Beach hotel to make noise
Demonstrators allege upward of 40 federal agents are staying at the Residence Inn while conducting immigration raids throughout the region.
Car horns, bullhorns, sirens, pots, pans, noisemakers of all kinds cut through the muggy night air when dozens of protesters gathered outside the Residence Inn in Downtown Long Beach Wednesday night.
The “no sleep for ICE” demonstrators allege upward of 40 federal agents are staying at the hotel while conducting immigration raids throughout the region, including Long Beach. Around 60 people showed up to make noise.
“We can’t stay quiet. We’re just here to fight,” protester Mayely C. said, adding that the federal raids are unconstitutional. “We’re just here to fight. If we don’t do it, nobody else will.”
Hotel staff, including General Manager Mark Hammerbeck, who refused to give a Watchdog reporter his full name, would not confirm or deny that federal agents are staying at the facility. The protesters, however, noted the high number of Texas, Arizona and other out-of-state license plates they say belong to the agents.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions from the Watchdog.
One protester, who declined to give their name, said multiple community members have been tracking agents to determine where they were staying. They said they believed Long Beach had been relatively quiet in terms of federal activity because they were likely staying in the city.
Agents have been spotted at multiple hotels, they said, including the city’s other Residence in Location at Lakewood Boulevard and Willow Street and the Hilton in Downtown. The protester said upward of 40 agents, some with their families, are now staying at the Downtown Residence Inn, likely because of its secluded location across Queensway Bay.
“They brutalize our communities in the daytime and then they go and eat at our restaurants,” the protester said. “Our tax dollars are paying for their vacation.”
The protest comes days after federal agents raided two Long Beach businesses. On Sunday, agents swarmed two car washes, picking up at least nine people, according to local immigrant advocacy group ÓRALE.
The owner of one of the businesses said agents did not present warrants or any other documentation, but rather immediately chased down workers, one of whom has been employed at the car wash for more than 15 years.
Local officials, including Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson and County Supervisor Janice Hahn, denounced the actions. Richardson went so far as to say he believed the raids were illegal thanks to a July court order prohibiting agents from conducting raids based on profiling.
Richardson’s office did not respond to requests for comment regarding federal agents staying at Long Beach hotels.
On Tuesday, Richardson said City Attorney Dawn McIntosh is working with other city officials to seek legal recourse to hold the federal government accountable for violating the court order.
Ahead of the protest Wednesday, the Long Beach Police Department said it "supports the right to peaceful protest and will ensure the safety of both our community and those participating in the demonstration."
At least eight squad cars responded to the hotel about two hours into the protest. Officers used their vehicles to block one of the hotel driveways as well as Queensway Drive from the Hotel Maya entrance to SouthShore Launch Ramp just past the Residence Inn.
Officers cited at least one protester who was impeding traffic with their car.
For now, the protesters said they will continue to push back against the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration, which it claims operations are targeted, focusing on illegal immigrants with criminal records, despite not presenting warrants in many cases. Another protest is scheduled for Thursday at 9 p.m. outside the Residence Inn in Downtown.
“I was raised on the belief that anybody coming to the country, if you work hard would belong, you could become somebody,” protester Tony L. said. “Just removing people off the streets is not what the country was based on.”
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